Thursday, May 31, 2007

Unagi Bento - a work day lunch

Frank and I have been trying to pack lunches more often for work. Our reasons are the usual; save money and eat healthier. I enjoy trying to come up with lunches that are a little different. This keeps it interesting for me but can also really add to my time in the kitchen. Here is a pretty simple one, unagi bento. I can’t really say I cooked anything, as the eel goes in the broiler, pre-seasoned and the pickles are pre-made, but someone had to assemble it! In preparation for packing lunches, I purchased some really cute bento sets from J-List. Making the eel bento is really quite simple. I try to approach it as with any meal, where the menu is balanced. With this bento, I served pickled cucumbers, endive with ginger dressing and pickled ginger on the side. I was trying to cut the richness of the eel, with some light and tangy sides. Not shown in this picture are some fresh cut oranges from our tree. When lunch time hits at work, I really enjoy the effort taken, minimal or not!

You can buy the eel at pretty much any Asian market or more specifically at a Japanese market. There are a few nice ones in Little Tokyo. I can't recall the name of the place I went to. When I find out, I will post it. They have a good selection of some organic stuff as well. From my understanding eel is fatty like salmon and mackerel, but I am not 100% sure. It definitely tastes fatty, hence the lemon on the side!